Source: AFL ladder Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for. (P) Premiers
Separated only by percentage Adelaide (minor premier) and West Coast topped the ladder (W-L: 17–5), trailed by third placed Sydney (15–7). The matchups for the first round of finals were only set after all matches of the final home-and-away game had been completed.
The top four teams in the eight receive what is popularly known as the "double chance" when they play in week-one qualifying finals; this means that if a top-four team loses in the first week, it still has a chance to redeem itself by getting a chance to play in a semi-final the next week against the winner of an elimination final. The bottom four of the eight are forced to play what are called elimination finals, in which only the winners survive and move on to week two to play the losers of the qualifying finals.
In the second week, the winners of the qualifying finals receive a bye to the third week, while the losers of those qualifying finals must play the winners of the elimination finals for a chance to play the qualifying finals winners. Home-ground advantage goes to the team with the higher seed.
In the third week, the winners of the semi-finals from week two play the winners of the qualifying finals in the first week, with the latter receiving home-ground advantage. The winners of those matches move on to the Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, where the new premier will be crowned.
The favourites for the 2005 Grand Final were Adelaide, St Kilda, Sydney and West Coast.
Sydney entered the game as the in form team of the competition. West Coast topped the ladder most of the season, and were only denied the minor premiership on percentage. The Eagles led the game most of the first half, but the Swans appeared to be marching onward to victory by taking control of the third quarter. In a foreshadowing of things to come, West Coast responded by taking control of the fourth quarter. Two controversial fourth quarter umpiring decisions against Sydney hurt their cause. Even more damaging were two late marks in defence by Eagle Dean Cox snubbing Swan attempts to kick a game winner.
A thrilling victory for Sydney, and a heartbreaking loss for Geelong. The game seemed decided, with Geelong ahead by 23 points early in the final quarter - Sydney needed four goals to win, and had kicked only three for the night. But the Swans did come back, with Nick Davis kicking all four of the final quarter goals, including the game-winner with less than ten seconds remaining.
Sydney opened the game strongly, but once St. Kilda righted their effort they took the lead and steadily built upon it. Leading by 15 points midway through the third quarter, the Saints were on the verge of putting the game out of reach but they were unable to match Sydney's endurance. In the final quarter the Swans blew the game out of reach by kicking seven un-answered goals.
The Swans' win reversed two heavy losses to the Saints within the past twelve months, the latter of which proved to be a major turning point in their 2005 season.
The 2004 AFL season was the 108th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixteen clubs, ran from 26 March until 25 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.
The 2002 AFL season was the 106th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixteen clubs, ran from 28 March until 28 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.
The 2005 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Sydney Swans and West Coast Eagles at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 24 September 2005. It was the 109th annual grand final of the Australian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 2005 AFL season. The match, attended by 91,898 spectators, was won by Sydney by a margin of four points, marking the club's fourth Premiership and their first since 1933.
The 1999 AFL season was the 103rd season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixteen clubs, ran from 25 March until 25 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.
The 2006 AFL season was the 110th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixteen clubs, ran from 30 March until 30 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs.
Rivalries in the Australian Football League exist between many teams, most of which typically draw large crowds and interest regardless of both teams' positions on the ladder. The AFL encourages the building of such rivalries, as a method of increasing publicity for the league, to the point of designating one round each year as "Rivalry Round" when many of these match-ups are held on the one weekend. Whilst some rivalries, such as between teams from adjacent areas, are still strong, the designation of an entire round of fixtures as a Rivalry Round is often criticised due to some arbitrary match-ups, or ignoring stronger and more recent rivalries.
The 1996 AFL season was the 100th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured sixteen clubs and ran from 29 March until 28 September. It comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top eight clubs, as well as several celebrations of the league's centenary.
The Australian Football League's 2006 finals series took place between the teams that finished in the top eight in the 2006 AFL season. It began on the weekend of 8 September 2006 and ended with the 110th AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 30 September 2006. The winner, West Coast Eagles, was crowned champion of the AFL after defeating Sydney by one point.
The 1995 AFL season was the 99th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989.
The Australian Football League's 2007 Finals Series determined the top eight final positions of the 2007 AFL season. It began on the weekend of 7 September 2007 and ended with the 111th AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 29 September 2007. The Geelong Football Club were crowned the 2007 AFL Premiers, beating the Port Adelaide Football Club by 119 points to win their first premiership since 1963.
The Australian Football League's 2008 Finals Series determined the top eight final positions of the 2008 AFL season. It began on the weekend of 5 September 2008 and ended with the 112th AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 27 September 2008. The Hawthorn Football Club were crowned the 2008 AFL Premiers, beating the Geelong Football Club by 26 points in front of a crowd of 100,012.
The Australian Football League's 2010 finals series determined the top eight final positions of the 2010 AFL season. The series was scheduled to occur over four weekends in September 2010, culminating with the 114th AFL/VFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 25 September 2010. However, after Collingwood and St Kilda drew in the grand final, the series was extended to five weeks, ending on 2 October, with the first Grand Final replay since 1977. Collingwood won the replay by 56 points to become the 2010 premiers.
The 2012 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club and the Sydney Swans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 29 September 2012. It was the 117th annual grand final of the Australian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 2012 AFL season. The match, attended by 99,683 spectators, was won by Sydney by 10 points, marking the club's fifth VFL/AFL premiership victory. Sydney's Ryan O'Keefe was awarded the Norm Smith Medal as the best player on the ground.
The 2013 Australian Football League finals series determined the winner of the 2013 AFL season. The series ran from the 6th to 28 September and culminated in the 117th AFL/VFL Grand Final, held between Fremantle and Hawthorn, which Hawthorn won.
The 2014 Australian Football League finals series is the 118th annual edition of the VFL/AFL final series, the Australian rules football tournament staged to determine the winner of the 2014 AFL Premiership Season. The series ran over four weekends in September 2014, and culminated with the 2014 AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 27 September 2014.
The 2015 Australian Football League finals series was the 119th annual edition of the VFL/AFL final series, the Australian rules football tournament staged to determine the winner of the 2015 AFL Premiership Season. The series ran over four weekends in September and October 2015, culminating with the 2015 AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 3 October 2015. Hawthorn won the match by 46 points against West Coast, recording their third consecutive premiership. The match was played in October, due to the season starting later than usual.
The 2016 Australian Football League finals series was the 120th annual edition of the VFL/AFL final series, the Australian rules football tournament staged to determine the winner of the 2016 AFL Premiership Season. The series ran over four weekends in September and October 2016, culminating with the 2016 AFL Grand Final, between the Sydney Swans and the Western Bulldogs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 1 October 2016. The Western Bulldogs defeated the Sydney Swans by 22 points to end the Western Bulldogs 62-year premiership drought, becoming the first team in AFL history to win the premiership from seventh place.
The 2017 Australian Football League finals series was the 121st annual edition of the VFL/AFL final series, the Australian rules football tournament staged to determine the winner of the 2017 AFL Premiership Season. The series ran over four weekends in September 2017, culminating with the 2017 AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 30 September 2017.
The West Coast Eagles are an Australian rules football team based in Perth, Western Australia. Their 2018 season was their 32nd season in the Australian Football League (AFL), their fifth season under coach Adam Simpson, and their fourth season with Shannon Hurn as captain. The West Coast Eagles finished the season with 16 wins and 6 losses, placing them second on the ladder, qualifying for the 2018 AFL finals series. They would go on to win the Grand Final by 5 points against Collingwood.
The 2022 Australian Football League finals series was the 126th annual edition of the VFL/AFL finals series, the Australian rules football tournament staged to determine the winner of the 2022 AFL premiership season. The series was played over four weeks in September and culminated in the 2022 AFL Grand Final.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
